Athletic Mouthpieces

ABSTRACT

There is provided an athletic mouthpiece comprising a tooth guard including a tooth channel, a mounting receiver, a retention element, and a lip guard including a lip shield, a mounting element, a second retention element, wherein the mounting receiver engages the mounting element to removably connect the lip guard to the tooth guard, and wherein the retention element engages the second retention element to secure the lip guard to the tooth guard until a separating force is applied.

RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims the benefit of and priority to a U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/605,338, filed Aug. 10, 2017, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety into the present application.

BACKGROUND

Previous mouthpieces with lip guards are made from one material. Whether the material is silicone, thermoplastic rubber (TPR), or ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA), those materials cannot be decorated. Because all prior mouthpieces with lip guards were of a one-piece design the need to protect the teeth outweighed the desire to decorate the plastic lip guard.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure is directed to athletic mouthpieces, substantially as shown in and/or described in connection with at least one of the figures, as set forth more completely in the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a diagram of an exemplary athletic mouthpiece, according to one implementation of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 shows a diagram of a tooth guard of the athletic mouthpiece of FIG. 1, according to one implementation of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 3 shows a diagram of a lip guard of the athletic mouthpiece of FIG. 1, according to one implementation of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description contains specific information pertaining to implementations in the present disclosure. The drawings in the present application and their accompanying detailed description are directed to merely exemplary implementations. Unless noted otherwise, like or corresponding elements among the figures may be indicated by like or corresponding reference numerals. Moreover, the drawings and illustrations in the present application are generally not to scale and are not intended to correspond to actual relative dimensions.

That the mouthpiece and lip guard is separated into two pieces. In some implementations, the lip guard may be made of a material that can be decorated, such as by being plated to look like chrome. That the two pieces may be designed to fit together so as to not come apart during use, but able to come apart intentionally. In some implementations, the end of the smaller extension there is an attached locking ring that has a diameter larger than the smaller extension which nests in a trough inside the larger extension. Therefore, the larger extension sits flush along the outside of the smaller extension with the locking ring nested into the trough creating a positive resistance to pulling the two extensions apart. In addition, when pressure is applied to separate the two inserts, the softer larger extension collapses onto the smaller harder extension creating additional friction and a locking effect. With respect to the associated method, in order to carry out the method the following core steps are followed: Push the smaller extension into the larger extension until the locking ring snaps into place, reverse the process to separate. Ultimately, at the conclusion of these steps the two separate pieces coming together to form one device.

The options are because the two units are separate, one can make the tooth guard out of materials favorable to the teeth such as silicone, thermoplastic rubber, ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA), etc. The lip guard may be made from various materials which can be decorated, such as styrene based santoprene, butadiene styrene, polyvinyl chlorate (PVC), thermoplastic rubber, etc. While our invention includes connecting the two pieces in a unique manner, there are optional ways to connect the two pieces as well, such as without a hole in the center, the two extensions can be solid extensions without a hole inside; material can come off the tooth trough like a thin strap or extension that goes through a hole in the lip guard; or T and rail connection between the two pieces.

FIG. 1 shows a diagram of an exemplary athletic mouthpiece, according to one implementation of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 1, athletic mouthpiece 100 includes tooth guard 101, lip guard 111, and strap 121. Tooth guard 101 includes tooth channel 103, mounting receiver 105, and retention element 107. In some implementations, tooth guard 101 may include a ventilation port (not pictured). In some implementations, tooth channel 103 may be defined by an inner retention element and an outer retention element. In some implementations, tooth guard 101 may include a second tooth channel (not pictured) formed on a side of tooth guard 101 opposite tooth channel 103.

Lip guard 111 may include a mounting element (not visible) and second retention element 113. In some implementations, lip guard 111 may include a strap mount for attaching strap 121. The strap mount may allow strap 121 to be optionally connected to lip guard 121. Strap 121 may be made of a flexible material, such as a flexible plastic, rubber, fabric, etc. In some implementations, strap 121 may be used to secure athletic mouthpiece 100 to a helmet (not shown).

FIG. 2 shows a diagram of tooth guard of athletic mouthpiece 100, according to one implementation of the present disclosure. Tooth guard 201 includes tooth channel 203, mounting receiver 205. As shown in FIG. 2, mounting receiver 205 includes retention element 207 a and retention element 207 b. Retention elements 207 a and 207 b are shown as slots cut into mounting receiver 205. In some implementations, retention elements 207 a and 207 b may be cut partially through the body of mounting receiver 205, or completely through the body of mounting receiver 205, as shown. Retention elements 207 a and 207 b may be configured to receive a complementary retention element to secure tooth guard 201 to lip guard 103 until a user applies a separating force sufficient to separate tooth guard 201 from lip guard 103. In the preferred embodiment, the separating force may be sufficiently large to allow tooth guard 201 and lip guard 103 to remain securely connected during ordinary use, such as while a user plays American football, but sufficiently small enough such that the user can apply a sufficient separation force by manually pulling tooth guard 201 apart from lip guard 103.

FIG. 3 shows a diagram of a lip guard of athletic mouthpiece 100, according to one implementation of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 3, lip guard 311 includes lip shield 313, mounting element 315, retention elements 317 a and 317 b, and strap mount 319. In some implementations, retention elements 317 a and 317 b may be formed as tabs on an outer edge of mounting element 315. Retention elements 317 a and 317 b may be configured to engage retention elements 207 a and 207 b to secure tooth guard 201 to lip guard 311. In some implementations, the tab/slot configuration of retention elements 207 and retention elements 317 may be reversed, such that retention elements 207 are tabs and retention elements 317 are slots. In some implementations, other configurations of retention elements may be used.

In some implementations, mounting receiver 205 may be formed as a hollow receiving element allowing mounting element 315 to engage by sliding into mounting receiver 205. In some implementations, mounting receiver 205 and mounting element 315 may each include ventilation ports, such that when mounting receiver 205 and mounting element 315 are fit together, the ventilation ports align.

In one embodiment, the athletic mouthpiece includes a tooth guard comprising a tooth channel, a mounting receiver, a retention element and a lip guard comprising a lip shield, a mounting element, a second retention element, wherein the mounting receiver engages the mounting element to removably connect the lip guard to the tooth guard, and wherein the retention element engages the second retention element to secure the lip guard to the tooth guard until a separating force is applied.

In another embodiment, the athletic mouthpiece may further comprise a strap attached to the lip guard.

In another embodiment, the athletic mouthpiece may further comprise a second tooth channel formed on a side of the tooth guard opposite the upper tooth channel.

In another embodiment, the athletic mouthpiece may further comprise a second corresponding retention element arranged such that a distance between the lip shield and the corresponding retention element is less than a distance between the lip shield and the second corresponding retention element.

In another embodiment, the athletic mouthpiece may further comprise a ventilation port.

In another embodiment, the ventilation port may include by a first ventilation port formed in the mounting receiver aligned with a second ventilation port formed in the mounting element.

In another implementation, the lip guard may include decorations. Such decorations may include images, lettering, surface modifications such as coloring, chrome coating, etc.

From the above description, it is manifest that various techniques can be used for implementing the concepts described in the present application without departing from the scope of those concepts. Moreover, while the concepts have been described with specific reference to certain implementations, a person having ordinary skill in the art would recognize that changes can be made in form and detail without departing from the scope of those concepts. As such, the described implementations are to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive. It should also be understood that the present application is not limited to the particular implementations described above, but many rearrangements, modifications, and substitutions are possible without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. 

What is claimed is:
 1. An athletic mouthpiece comprising: a tooth guard comprising a tooth channel, a mounting receiver, a retention element; and a lip guard comprising a lip shield, a mounting element, a second retention element; wherein the mounting receiver engages the mounting element to removably connect the lip guard to the tooth guard, and wherein the retention element engages the second retention element to secure the lip guard to the tooth guard until a separating force is applied.
 2. The athletic mouthpiece of claim 1, further comprising a strap attached to the lip guard.
 3. The athletic mouthpiece of claim 1, wherein the tooth guard further comprises a second tooth channel formed on a side of the tooth guard opposite the upper tooth channel.
 4. The athletic mouthpiece of claim 1, wherein the lip guard further comprises a second corresponding retention element arranged such that a distance between the lip shield and the corresponding retention element is less than a distance between the lip shield and the second corresponding retention element.
 5. The athletic mouthpiece of claim 1, further comprising a ventilation port.
 6. The athletic mouthpiece of claim 5, wherein the ventilation port comprises by a first ventilation port formed in the mounting receiver aligned with a second ventilation port formed in the mounting element. 